Eighth graders are presented with a drawing of a large square inscribed by a circle which is itself inscribed by a second square. They are asked to find the area of the circle outside the smaller square and compare it to the area of the...

This instructional activity is a unique and fun way to review perimeter, angles, and types of adjectives. Students pick an object from the classroom that will fit in a paper lunch bag. They investigate their object and fill in the...

Students reflect on their work and apply what they've learned about the characteristics of geometric figures. Includes a learning game to be played with a partner.

The purpose of this task is to help learners see that the definition of the logarithm as an exponent results in an inverse relationship between the exponential and logarithm functions with the same base. This prepares them to think about...

In this lesson plan, 7th graders use their knowledge of formulas to determine the area and circumference of a circle.

Some friends are at the beach looking out onto the ocean on a clear day and they wonder how far away the horizon is. A second problem asks how far the horizon would be from the top of a mountain. Students must also answer a question...

In this task, students investigate why total solar eclipses are rare. They will learn that, in addition to requiring the positioning of the Sun, Moon, and Earth, the Moon can only completely block out the Sun when it is closest to the...

This task shows the congruence of two triangles formed by cutting a rectangle in half along the diagonal. Students are asked to investigate elements of congruence and transformations among the shapes. Aligns with 8.G.A.2.

Eighth graders are presented with the distance-time graphs of two bike riders in a race. They are to identify the winner and write a story describing what is happening during the race based on the shapes of the graphs. Aligns with 8.F.B.5.

In this task, seven pennies are placed in a circle so that they are all touching one in the center and their neighbors. Students are asked to find as many rigid motions of the plane as they can which are symmetries of this configuration...

For this task, learners are shown circle formations where an inner circle is surrounded by a set of circles and all circles are touching. In the first situation, all circles have the same diameter. In the second, the inner circle is...

For this task, young scholars are asked to calculate the height above sea level of a lamp on top of a lighthouse that is visible to a boat, and to examine two other interpretations of the distance from the lighthouse to the boat. Aligns...

In this task, learners are given the dimensions of a soda can and are asked to estimate its thickness. They must first find the surface area and the volume of aluminum. Aligns with G-MG.A.1 and G-MG.A.2.

This is a mathematical modeling task aimed at making a reasonable estimate for something which is too large to count accurately, the number of leaves on a tree, taking into account the tree size and the density of the leaves. Aligns with...

The purpose of this task is for students to decompose a figure into rectangles and then find the total area by adding the area of all of its smaller, non-overlapping rectangles. Aligns with 3.MD.C.7.d.

In this task, 8th graders are presented with a drawing of three glasses of different shapes and their measurements. They are asked to make several calculations that require the application of the Pythagorean Theorem and volume formulas....

The management of an ocean life museum will choose to include either Aquarium A or Aquarium B in a new exhibit. In doing this task, students discover the formula for the volume of a sphere. Aligns with G-GMD.A.2 and HSG-MG.A.1.

Critical thinking, comprehension and analysis skills are the focus of this physical activity. Good beginning to teaching different ways of looking at things.

Picture a roll of toilet paper; assume that the paper in the roll is very tightly rolled. Assuming that the paper in the roll is very thin, find a relationship between the thickness of the paper, the inner and outer radii of the roll,...

About how many cells are in the human body? The purpose of this task is for students to apply the concepts of mass, volume, and density in a real-world context. Aligns with G-MG.A.2.

Satellites communicate with a GPS device and establish the distance between them and their locations. The set of points at a fixed distance from a satellite form a sphere so when the GPS receives its distance from a given satellite, this...

In this task, learners are shown a table of population data for the city of London and are asked to explore whether a linear, quadratic, or exponential function would be appropriate to model relationships within the data. They are next...

Identify quadrilaterals based on pictures or attributes. Quadrilaterals included are parallelograms, rhombuses, rectangles, and squares. Students receive immediate feedback and have the opportunity to try questions repeatedly, watch a...

Discover how the geometric shape of an object directly relates to its usefullness in this math challenge from the NCTM Math Challenges for Families collection. A one page activity that you can print or download.